Bible
Study: Romans 4, 20 to 25. And Luke 12, 13 to 21.
To be
covetous is to live in a special world; a world where one cares only for himself,
his stomach and his life. To be covetous is to grab and grab as much as you can
without the slightest consideration of others. To be covetous is to refuse to
give others what is due to them like the case of the man whose brother had to
run to Jesus because he did not give him a share of their father’s inheritance.
To be covetous is to be like the rich man in the parable Jesus gave to us in
today’s Gospel passage who did not know what to do with riches.
Like this
man, many of us today still do not know what do to with riches. When God
blesses you with riches and the good things of this life, it is not because you
are better, luckier or more hardworking than others. It is simply because he wants
you to be channel through which the life of others can be enriched. Your riches
are not meant for you alone. And of course, there is no way you can ever have
it all, you either give freely to the needy now or someday, persons who do not
even deserve it will take it without your permission or knowledge because you would
have to the world beyond.
The reason
why Jesus called this man a “Fool” was that in his plan for the enjoyment of
his wealth, there was no consideration of others. The man said to himself:
“What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? … I will do this, I
will pull down my barns and build larger ones…” In other words, his barns were
already filled and his problem was lack of space to store more whereas in that
same town, there were many who had not eaten for days. Taking more than what
you need while you know there are others barely struggling to survive is a form
covetousness.
We need
faith to believe that God can provide for us. We need faith to know that there
is no point trying to take care of tomorrow by storing up material things for ourselves.
We need faith to recognize that there is a better home for us more precious
than this earthly dwelling where our true treasures are kept securely for us.
This was the type of faith Abraham had and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness. By preparing for a heaven that no one has ever seen, by being
kind and generous to the poor even when we are not expecting to get anything
back from them, we are acting like Abraham who kept waiting for the promise of
a son even at his old age.
Let us
Pray:
Lord Jesus,
help me to be rich towards you by being kind and generous to others. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy New Week.
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